Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Transplant terror

Breaking news from the preliminary hearing of a California transplant surgeon accused of hastening the death of Ruben Novarro, a 25-year-old disabled man, in order to get his hands on Novarro's organs. According to the NYT, the criminal complaint accuses Dr. Hootan C. Roozrokh of having ordered excessive doses of morphine and Ativan (an anti-anxiety medication). The complaint also alleges that Roozrokh introduced Betadine, a topical antiseptic, into the patient's stomach. The article notes concerns on the part of transplants and organ-procurement organizations, both groups that fear public reaction to the news.

You can read an earlier story from the Washington Post, including commentary from Art Caplan, here. Roozrokh is pleading not guilty.

2 comments:

Kelly Hills said...

Easy amusement of the "has the flu again, how the hell did that happen" sick: counting the number of people quoted in the article that you've met/exchanged emails with/have programmed in your cell phone.

I blame the fever for the great amusement this brought me.


(In a more serious comment, this just utterly and completely horrifies me on every level possible. The weekly farmers market here knows me as a regular, and they know what I'm doing in school/for work - and I was absolutely sieged the last time I was there about this story, transplant fears and horrors. I can't even begin to imagine the extend of longterm damage this is going to do...)

Anonymous said...

Please see this link: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/?sty=10636

This fringe group of "scientist" murdered an individual and as of today have gone uncharged.

Please help me understand the difference, because I honestly do not see one. You should also visit www.freeted.com for more information about this cult.